Tag Archive | Training

Finding Balance

Jun29

Life is about balance.

The give and the take.

The Ying and the Yang.

Hot and the Cold

Without balance our lives would be more chaotic than they already are now.   Balancing time for ourselves, our friends, our family, and our training.   Ignore one at the expense of the other and things suffer.

Balance.

The same is true when it comes to our training.   As I said the other day in my post How Slow Can You Go, I have embraced the going slower approach to my training.   But there has to be a balance to this approach for it to work.

Balance is the key.

Run too fast too often and you will end up injured or burnt out.

Never running fast and you will never improve.

Balance.

So even though most days I am not running faster than a 10:40 pace, there are days that I’m out there pushing it. Today was such a day.  These are the days that you have to bring your A game to.    These are the days that make up for all the “slower” days.

index

Yes, I take notes as when I’m pushing it sometimes my brain needs a little help.   That being said, I am pretty happy with the way this cut down turned out.   I haven’t done one in a while and this one was not meant to be an easy run.   I guess that’s what happens when you have a good race.  Your coach adjusts your cut down paces accordingly even if it made you cry a little when you saw it.  That being said, it also wasn’t meant to be I need to stop right now run either.    At the end, I was supposed to feel like I could run another mile at the pace I was running.   I will say that although, I do think I could have kept going at mile 5 that I was more than happy to slow down.

Moral of the story is as much as you need to run slow to speed up, you also need days like this too.

The Ying and the Yang.

The give and the take.

The slow running days and the run like hell days.

It’s all about balance.

How Slow Can You GO?

Jun26

slow_down

We all know that I’ve never claimed to be an expert at running.    I readily admit that I have so much to learn, but that isn’t to say that I don’t have some knowledge as I’ve been at it a few years now.  A running friend recently asked me about my running.   She’s gearing up for marathon training as many of my running friends are and she wanted to know about my paces.   She specifically wanted to  know about the “running slower” in training.   As most of you know, my coach and now me, swear by this approach.   My coach can give you all the schooled reasons why it makes more sense to train slower (Chronic Runner), I can just give you my take on it.

Before I wisely started working with my coach, I would estimate that almost ALL of my runs were at the same pace.   It didn’t matter if it was a long run, a short run, or anywhere in between.   You could count on an almost steady 10:20 pace.   I thought I was doing good, but I was wrong.    It wasn’t good for my body and it wasn’t good for my training.

I know that concept of slowing down to speed up sounds entirely crazy.    I know it doesn’t make any sense.   It goes against the grain.   You think to yourself if I’m going to get faster, I need to run faster and I need to run faster a lot.    Well, yes, yes you do need to run faster.   Here is the thing though.  You don’t need to run faster ALL the time and honestly most of the time you should be running slower.   Seriously.  No joke.  No lie.

The first thing that my coach had me do when I started with her was to slooooooow down.   Most of my daily runs except the ones designed for speed were slowed down to 11 minute pace or slower.   I didn’t get it.   I thought this doesn’t make sense, but I listened.   I followed her advice.   These slower days balanced out with days where I pushed it and ran hard.     There was a balance that I didn’t have before.   It was the key that I was missing (that and most of the key chain).    I didn’t always understand, but I understood enough to know that she was right.

Here is the thing too.    Before I slowed down, I battled plantar fasciitis.   I battled it a lot.   Taping my foot.   Running in pain.   I just thought, “this is part of being a runner.”   I was wrong.   Now, I am not saying that I am always pain free.   I am not saying that new shoes and inserts have not also helped.   What I am saying is that running slower when I didn’t need to be running fast helped.   Not only with injuries, but also allowing my body to have the juice it needed on days I needed to run fast and then allow it  recover from those hard days too.

Here is the bottom line from all this slowing down.    I am an average runner.   I do not have what is considered the “runners body.”   I am short with short (but powerful) legs.   I am a few pounds overweight.   You know what all of that means?   NOTHING.    Really.    Not only have I been able to run longer distances without injury since slowing down, but I have also run faster than I ever thought I could.    In my 5K last week that I PR’d in 26:26.   I ran the fasted mile that I have ever run. EVER.   I ran a mile in 8:12.    This was unimaginable to me.   This still boggles my mind.   Yes, I realize it’s only a mile but my 3rd mile of the 5K was 8:19.     I may never get any faster that this, but I know that I would never have made it here if I hadn’t slowed down.

keep-calm-and-trust-your-training-1

How slow can you go?

Oops I Did It Again

May24

As mentioned before, the second loop of the Dirty German I was on my own.   I had my trusty Garmin on counting down the miles left.   (Yes, at a certain point I like to think in terms of how many miles are left not how many I already ran).  When I was getting near the end though it seemed like the finish line would never come.   Then I heard noise in the distance breaking the silence of the trail.   It was like the call of the Sirens propelling me forward.    It beckoned me.   It gave my tired legs a jolt of energy.   It brought me out of the trail and across the finish line.

I thought it only fitting that the song playing while crossing the finish line was Brittney Spears Oops I did it again.      This seems to be how I get into these races in the first place.   I just kind of jump right in and then say to myself, “Oops I did it again”   guess I’m running another race.

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It was going to be different after the Dirty German I was 100% sure.   This was just going to be something to cross off my list.   Before the race, I even told my coach that I was going to need a break when it was over.   I was sure my body was telling me it was time to slow down and run like a normal person.   I’m sure that she’s heard these type of things from other runners, so she was like, “Yes, we can change things up, keep your base so your ready for marathon training, and have some fun.”    That may not really have been what I wanted to hear.   I wanted to hear, have a great summer, don’t eat to much ice cream, and have fun running like a normal person.

So here we are not even a  full two week post Dirty German.   I’ve had a few recovery runs and I’m chomping at the bits to get out there again.   I miss it.   I’ve got a lot of time when not running hours every day.    Still not enough time to get everything done, but that’s a different story.    Anyway, I told myself I was done.   I was toast.   I was not running anymore long races.   Couldn’t wait to be done with NYCM, so I could officially end my training.

Then like every normal person or should I say every normal runner I Know, I go and sign up for another race.   Actually, I signed up for three but it’s one event so I can count it as one sign up.   I’m heading back to the Runner’s World Festival in October to do the Hat Trick again.   This is the event where you run a 5K rest for about an hour.   Then run a 10K and go home.   Then come back the next day to run a half marathon.    Now signing up for this makes perfect sense to me.    Really, I can totally justify it…..

  1. I previously talked to my coach about it.   She, obviously, said the choice was mine and it would really depend how I wanted to run them and what I wanted to get out of NY since it is fairly close to it.
  2. I love this race as it was my first big event.
  3. I totally am justifying it by saying this will be good training for NY due to the hills.    Really.   Makes perfect sense.
  4. I couldn’t help myself.

Besides, I think I still have self control because I had been thinking of signing up to run a trail event in the beginning of June.   I haven’t done that yet, so I don’t think I’ve totally lost it yet.   (Must be strong!)

As I said before, when you surround yourself with encouraging people doing amazing things, you can’t but help yourself.

How do you keep yourself in check?

 

 

 

I Didn’t Ask for any Lemons!

Apr2

when-life-gives-you-lemons-grab-tequila-salt-6

Yeah, we have all heard the “If Life Gives You Lemons” analogy.   You know what?   I find that a pretty sucky analogy because sometimes you don’t want lemonade.   Sometimes you want a Margarita!    That being said though I tend to be a pretty positive person because I learned early on you’ve just got to suck it up no matter what.   So if you’ve got to suck on a lemon because that is all you got, you better learn to like lemons.

Now just because I tend to be a positive person does not mean that things don’t get to me.   I am not a cartoon character after all.   So 7 days ago when i rolled my ankle, I was mad at myself.    Then when I realized that this was more than just a give it a few days rest kind of roll, I had a what the Hell moment.   I went through the stages (quickly) because as I’ve said I’ve learned long ago that you just have to roll with it.

Denial

Maybe it’s not that bad

Anger

Why did I go out for a run at night?   Idiot.

Bargaining

I’ll rest it a couple more days and I’ll be good as new

Depression

I’m loosing everything I’ve worked so hard to build up.   Why bother?

Acceptance

Well I better do something to give my ankle/foot time to be 100%

foot2

Still not 100%.   Bruising is getting better.  No pain to walk, but do feel it at the end of the day.   Also not good to run as when I stretch it to mimic a run it hurts.  Boo Hoo.

I know that I rolled my ankle pretty bad.   I know I totally jacked up my foot.   Not enough to go to the doctors because he is just going to tell me what I already know.   I need to rest it.   I need to give it time.   I need to do this now, so that I can go about my life.

I will say that nothing compares to running, but I am going to embrace this SHORT recovery time while not letting my endurance slip.    It won’t be the same.   It won’t be as good, but maybe just maybe when I do start running again I will find that what I’m doing will benefit my running.

Sounds like good enough BS that I can buy it.   Although there is some truth to it and cross training really is good for runners.

So today I went to my local gym.    I rode the stationary bike for 15 minutes for a total of 3. 37 miles burning a whole 120 calories.   Whoop.  Whoop.  (inserting sarcasm here).  Then I did some strength training for my abs, back, and arms.   I do need to do this as they say “a woman my age” should be strength training.   I’m sure I will feel it tomorrow which will make me not so secretly happy.

I’m going to plan some things out this week.   Swimming, more strength training, longer stationary bike rides and a combo of all of them.

I may not get any lemonade or Margarita’s but maybe I can learn to like the lemons on their own.

PS   – I miss running

 

Trust In The Training!

Mar21

Trust is a funny thing.    Trust is something that needs to be earned and is sometimes hard to do.    I had to go out on the ledge and trust my coach, my training, and myself.   These are not necessarily easy things to do.   I trust my coach but trusting in ones self can be harder.  Sometimes the doubt creeps in, but I shut the door on it in New York City.

I had a great race.   I had phenomenal race.   The stars were aligned.  The sun was shining and it all came together.    I pushed the doubt and the fears to the side.   I took a leap of faith and went with it.     I started the race with the knowledge that I could do this.    I had a plan.   A plan that my coach helped me develop.   All I needed was to stick to the program and trust in my training.  I went out as planned, but almost got sidetracked early on by the 2:00 hour pace group.   They blew past me around mile 2.    At first I think that I tried to stay with them, but I stopped myself.   They were not following my plan.   They were running a different race.   I knew what I needed to do and they were not doing it.   They were going out too fast for me.   I let them go.   It was hard at first, but I had my mantra that I kept repeating to myself.   It was not a planned mantra, but it was fitting.

TRUST IN YOUR TRAINING!

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It was that simple.   I needed to trust in the hours that I’ve logged.   The miles that I’ve ran at pace.    The fact that I had done the work to set me up to do what I needed to do.   What I needed to do was not what everyone else needed to do.   So I let them go.   I trusted in my training and my ability to get it done.

I was in the zone.

A friend that I went to the half with came up to me a few miles in.    I actually said to her, “Karyn, just so you know I’m not being a Bitch.   I’m just in the zone.”    I needed to run this race by myself.   Some things are like that.   You need to do them by yourself.   This was that race for me.   I needed to focus on my pace, my calculations, and moving forward.  She understood.   (Love you, lady).

As I ran, I knew where I needed to be.   I had a pace band in my pocket that I didn’t use during the race; but had done some calculations ahead of time.   I kind of knew where I needed to be when.   I added up the time I needed to hit as the miles rose.   I was hitting my targets.  There were times that I had to reign myself in as he race was so exciting.   I was trusting in the training and not trying to bank time.

My plan was to run consistently till around mile 10 where I would pick it up a little more.  At that point my mantra became NO REGRETS.   By this I meant that no matter what, I would not have regrets because I was doing all I could.   I also meant that I would not give myself an out.   That I would continue to push it and fight for the sub 2 because the only way I would have regrets is if I backed down.   So NO REGRETS.    By mile 12, I was pushing it pretty hard but trying to make sure as to not burn up.  I knew I would be close.   I knew that I was going to need to give it all I had at the end.   So I saved a little fuel in the tank and when I hit the 20K mat, I pushed it even harder.

NO REGRETS.

You can’t have regrets if you’ve done everything that you’ve needed to do.   If you’ve given all you have.    I dug as deep as I could go and I did it!

1:58:59

A minute to spare:)

I honestly can say that if somehow I didn’t make my goal, I would have been happy with this race.  Honestly, I am not saying that because I reached my sub 2  goal.   I was telling myself that that last 3 miles.

That being said, I am over the moon with reaching it.

This was an amazing adventure.   There is more to tell, but this is enough for now.

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Don’t Run on Empty

Mar5

I am great at what to eat after a  run.  I have a variety of post workout protein drinks ready to go.   What I’m really not great about is what to eat before and even during my runs.  How to properly “fuel” my run.

I’ve been told that runners have their own language.   It is true to a certain extent, but I think most sports have their own language.   If you were to put me on the sidelines of a football game or any other sport, I would have no idea what they were talking about.   The thing with languages though is that anyone can learn them.   I’m learning the importance of fuel for running now

Full Definition of fuel

  1. 1a:  a material used to produce heat or power by burning b:  nutritive material c:  a material from which atomic energy can be liberated especially in a reactor

  2. 2:  a source of sustenance or incentive

They say that the body is the best designed machine.   I believe that to be true.   Just like a machine then, your body needs fuel to run at it’s best.   When you are running longer distances, fuel becomes so very important to you.   I’m not new to how important, but I’ve realized that I need to be smarter with both my fuel choices and timing of it.   As they say timing is everything.  Take it too soon and you’ve wasted it.   Take it too late and a run can go from good to bad quickly.     From experience I can tell you that for me it is hard to bounce back once you’ve waited to long to fuel.    I can also say that if you take it too soon and end up needing to refuel more often that can lead to problems too.   This is why I have started to pay attention to not only what I’m taking but when I’m taking it.   We train for everything else.   We also need to train for our fueling.

Fuel

This is where I am at.  I want to know how this works better.  I want to understand it because if I can understand it maybe I can actually do it better.   There is much to learn and I am only just beginning.

I have started to keep a detailed training log this year.   With all my runs to include weather, what I wore, how I felt, and when I fueled.    I really believe this is the piece that I’ve been missing.   Not that this is going to make me a super runner because I will never be that.   What it will help me to do though is be the best that I can be.    That is enough.

We all know that we should carb load before a run.   There is truth to this, but it is not the be all end all for the long run.   The body on average can only store 90 minutes of energy for a run.   This is why once you start pushing the distances fuel becomes so important.  That being said once you start pushing the pace, you need more fuel too because just like your car burns more fuel thw faster it goes so does the body.

As with everything in my life, this is a work in progress.   I will say though that I did discover a very tasty Honey Stinger Organic Fruit Smoothie gel that was soooooo very tasty.     This is coming from a GU girl too.    Live and learn.

I’ll keep you posted.

How do you fuel?

 

Run, Run, and Run Some More

Feb26

Looking at the calendar, my next big race is now less than a month away.   The New York City Half Marathon.   I’m very excited about it and I’ve been doing quite a bit of training to see if I can make it a sub 2 half.   Still not sure, but I will never know unless I try.    Now that being said, I realized something about a week or so ago too.    Something that didn’t really occur to me.  Yes, I’ve been speed training for the half but I’ve also started training for my 50K.  To me that seems so distant because it’s 3 months away.    I’ve learned though that doesn’t mean that I am waiting for the half to be over to start training for it.

Once I realized this, my new manta to get me out the door become

50K’s don’t just happen.

DirtyGermanFinishlogoweb

Now I know that to be true.   I expected it.   Somehow though in my mind I was still training for the half which made the 50K seem like it wasn’t real.   I realized though when I had a long run that was 14 miles.   That was my Aha moment.   That was the moment it all become real.   That was the moment that I thought to myself, “What am I doing?”

I’m hoping these are normal thoughts.   Then again I never claimed to be normal.

Someone asked me what I was training for and when I told them they thought I was crazy.   They asked me, “Why the hell would you want to do that?”

I really had no answer.   Other than that I thought it would be a fun challenge and that it is something I  do it for me..    They rolled their eyes and did not see the fun in it.   That is ok.   A lot of people do a lot of things for fun that I just don’t get.    Now I’m not saying all this training is fun, but it does clear my mind and allow me to pretty much eat what I want.    So for me that is a win.

Around the same time that I made the realization that I was in 50K training, something else exciting happened too.    I had joined a group that matches runners with those who can’t run.  Runners can be matched with individuals with special needs or the group I’m in their sibling, the unsung hero.  I was finally matched!  So now my running is really not all about me.  It is for both of us.   Someone that will inspire me to push further.  That is all I will say about my unsung hero for her privacy.      It’s a cool feeling though.      This is still very new to me as I’ve only recently been matched, but I can’t wait to see how this develops.

IRun

What to Wear? What to Wear?

Feb17

Weatherman, Weatherman, What do you see?

What is the weather going to be around me?

Well if you are on the East Coast, the answer is who the Hell knows.

weather  Every day it is something different.   We literally went from 9 degrees to 46 degrees with in a day.

Crazy!!

Now I don’t mind running in all types of weather as you really have to do what you have to do.   Some days that might even mean hitting the treadmill, but those are rare days.    What is driving me a little batty is that every day is something different.

Case in point –  3 runs within 4 days.  Each day was something drastically different.   The last run where it was warmer, I made the mistake of checking the weather.  The weatherman lied about when the rain was coming and I got caught in a torrential rain too.  Boo, weather people.  Boo!

No Joke.

No Lie.

It is making it so hard to figure out what to run in.   Now I’m not one to be cold, but I also don’t like overdressing for a run either.   These changing temperatures are making it difficult to know what to wear.   Normally in February it is easy to know what to wear.   Layers, Layers, and then some more layers.   And while that may be true some days this February, it is not true every day.

Do I need to cover my head?    Do I need gloves today?    Do I need a jacket or will my vest be enough?

Again, who the Hell knows.

A lot also depends on pace, because with a slower pace.   Today, although not a faster pace is fast enough.

As my good friend, Genine, said as we were discussing what to wear, “No matter what I do, I will regret something along the way.”

Pretty much sums it up.   But I always go on the side of regretting wearing too much than too little.

This is why at the end of some of my races I look a little like a bag lady.

Philly Marathon

Philly Marathon

But this system works for me.   It might not work for everyone and that is what I love about running.   To each their own:)   The trick is to find out what works for you which can also change on any given day?

How do you decide what to wear?

 

Your Running What?

Feb10

fartlek

Word of the Week

Fartleks –

Because it’s fun to say, but maybe that is only because I’m a mother of three boys.    Now I realize it’s something fun to say, but it is also something fun to run.    Although truth be told, sometimes I get so caught up am I hitting my pace I loose some of the fun.   Not today.   Not with fartleks.

So what exactly is a fartlek you ask because I know that I did!

fart·lek
ˈfärtlik/
noun

Track & Field
noun: fartlek
  1. a system of training for distance runners in which the terrain and pace are continually varied to eliminate boredom and enhance psychological aspects of conditioning.
It sounds like some made up word to make non runners feel stupid.   Then I realized that the reason it was such a silly word is because it is from Sweden and it means “speed play” in Swedish.    It was developed in 1937 for a Swedish cross country team that was in need of both speed and endurance training.   So their coach, Gosta Holmer came up with the good ole fartlek.  I’m guessing it worked for them as all these years later we are still doing them.
Now I feel bad for thinking that it was a made up word.   Then again, what do I know?   Not much, but I do like to learn:)
So I’ve done them a few times.   Well actually twice now, but I think I enjoyed today more than the first time I did them.   The first time, I was more concerned if I was doing them right or not.   Then I found out that I was way overthinking it.    I sometimes do that.   Today, I followed the advice of my coach.   She told me to “throw some faster bits in for fun” up, down, fast, medium and just have fun with it.   So I tried to do just that.
You know what, I think I did have some fun with it.
Was it challenging?
You bet!
Did I have fun with it?
Yup!
AND
my last one was the best!
For 10 seconds I could fly hitting 6:08.
Now I could NEVER maintain that speed,
but that is the beauty of the fartlek.
I’m not supposed to.
I’m supposed to just enjoy my little legs moving as fast as they could.
On top of that, I didn’t feel like I was going to die!
Although I was happy to resume my normal pace to finish the run.
Running a fartlek is kind of like running like Pheobe from friends.
Running like a kid, just to run.
Do you Fartlek?

 

A Necessary Evil

Jan27

I’ve been good in listening to my coach.   I’ve done the required runs with the required paces.   I listen to the things that she asks me to do because I know that she knows what she’s talking about.   That being said, I may have slacked off a bit on the cross training.   Not until recently did she really give details on cross-training.   It had been more of telling you to cross-train.   So I will say that my cross-training may not have been what was expected, but I was doing my runs.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I know that’s not really the way it works.   There is more to running than the actual running.   I know.   When I first started running, I was doing Crossfit which I loved.   Loved.   Loved.   Loved.    At the time though, I really couldn’t justify paying for both Crossfit and having a coach especially when I already belong to my local YMCA.    Besides I was finding that between recovering from an event or tapering for one, Crossfit was no longer a good fit for me.    For a while I was good about continuing my cross-training.    Then little by little, things just slipped away to the point that I really was not doing much more than running.

 Ooops.

I also know that if I want to improve my running, I can’t continue just running.    I need to get back into doing other things.   Maybe tone up my abs a little.   Now I’m not deluding myself into thinking that I will ever get washboard abs or even pre washboard abs.   I’m thinking maybe I should have a little less jiggle in the pouch.    No amount of running is going to make that happen which really does suck.

As I said before, now my coach through Training Peaks is giving specifics.   I will admit that yesterday she said 4 sets and I only did 2, but baby steps.   Besides I’m sore today from just 2 sets.   I couldn’t imagine how sore I would have been with 4 sets.    What really stinks too is that there really is no excuse not to do these things as there really isn’t much equipment involved and what is involved I already have.

Here is a sample of my workout

10 push-ups, 20 Kettle-bell swings, 10 burpees with push-ups, 10 bicep curls, 15 triceps dips.

Back in the hey day of Crossfit, I could have killed this workout.    Not so much now.   I had to break them up some.    I realized how just because I can now run around the block a few times, does not mean anything when it comes to cross-training.   I realized that I missed it a little too.    So I will continue to add these back in and do more than just the running.

I even went today and did the elliptical and stationary bike today per my schedule.

It is a necessary evil that I really shouldn’t avoid.

Besides I do like it:)

Yeah, I’m crazy like that.

 

What do you do for Cross-Training?

Do you like Cross-Training days?